I May Stink At Wind-Up Knight, But You Should Play It

I'd like to recommend a game I am bad at. I think you'd be better at it than I am. Plus it's pretty and, did I mention that on Android it's free? The game is called Wind-Up Knight, and I'm having trouble timing my wind-up knight's jumps.

The game is a runner, one of the common genres of mobile games. We have hero who runs perpetually from left to right (mostly). He's a knight. He's been wound up, so you do have to worry that he'll run out of twist and stop charging to the end of a level (you pick-up wind-up power-ups to avoid that).

In most runners, you can jump. It's simply a matter of timing your taps on the screen to make your hero jump obstacles. In this game, you can also slash a sword or roll under barriers. You can acquire better armour, better swords and other gear.

There's nothing very complex here, but the game looks great and is, well, very tough. At least, it's tough for me. The game is divided into missions that require perfect playing to complete. When I fail a jump, I get knocked back to the beginning, even if I was close to the end. I got distracted a lot while playing the game — distracted trying to grab extra coins or rush down a branched path. Bad idea! I would lose most of the knight's wind-up power then panic and botch a jump.

This is a game where my words will encourage you. In fact, what I've written may discourage you. But the game's a beauty.

Look at it. It's fun and always pleasing to see in action, even when you stink at it.

Triple AAA games nailing the brief. Indie games surprising people out of nowhere, and expansions and patches that completely turn a game around. It's been a good year for games - now it's time for you to vote for your favourite.